Cape Town vs Houston - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Cape Town	Houston
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1071	$2265
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2522	$5664
🏠 One person rent	$582	$1305
🏘️ Family rent	$1083	$2467
🍽️ Food expenses	$273	$581
🚐 Transport expenses	$124	$212
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1532	$4390
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Good
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	16 km
🎓 Higher education	56	100
😀 Quality of life	58	91
🏙️ Population	3.78M	2.3M

The cost of living in Cape Town is 53% less expensive than in Houston. Cities ranked 5016th and 1229th ($1071 vs $2265) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 1115th in South Africa and the United States, respectively. Check South Africa vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.4 months in Cape Town compared to 1.9 months in Houston. Cape Town ranked 1st best city to live in South Africa vs Houston ranked 14th in the United States, while ranked 5491st and 97th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Cape Town vs Houston infographic

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Prices in Cape Town vs Houston

Prices for goods and services in Cape Town and Houston are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Cape Town	Houston
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$8.4	$17.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$32.1	$76
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.87	$10.3
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.58	$5.88
☕ Cappuccino	$2.03	$5.4
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.03	$2.71
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$677	$1390
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$435	$1037
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1304	$2766
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$863	$2058
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$59.9	$132
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$93.1	$202
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$38.9	$65.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.89%	6.58%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1804	$2714
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1180	$1949
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.09	$1.25
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$39	$71.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$8.47	$23.9
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.23	$0.79
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.08	$0.92
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.03	$3
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.48	$3.4
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.58	$4.07
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.33	$11.8
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.42	$11.4
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.24	$16.6
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.53	$4.29
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.45	$1.37
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.47	$3.95
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.57	$3.04
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.33	$2.73
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.13	$2.43
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.62	$1.34
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.43	$3.01
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$5.48	$14.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.39	$2.15
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.02	$9.62
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.02	$9.29
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.17	$5.13
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.11	$3.64
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.49	$2.46
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$34.4	$37.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$6.22	$14.5
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$35.7	$127
💇 Haircut, simple	$8.05	$21.6
👖 Brand Jeans	$51	$50.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$104	$98.6
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$204	$1470
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$4806	$18964

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Cape Town

Distance	City	Cost of living
54 km or 33 mi	Paarl	$1147
99 km or 62 mi	Worcester	$619
371 km or 231 mi	George	$743
644 km or 400 mi	Uitenhage	$840
662 km or 411 mi	Port Elizabeth	$901
664 km or 413 mi	Upington	$699
754 km or 468 mi	Makhanda	$763
821 km or 510 mi	Komani	$915
833 km or 518 mi	Kimberley	$814
845 km or 525 mi	Bhisho	$1332
882 km or 548 mi	East London	$766
912 km or 567 mi	Bloemfontein	$657
950 km or 590 mi	Mafeteng	$567
999 km or 621 mi	Maseru	$621
1002 km or 622 mi	Mthatha	$852
1029 km or 639 mi	Teyateyaneng	$500
1030 km or 640 mi	Welkom	$748
1034 km or 643 mi	Mariental	$827
1092 km or 679 mi	Butha-Buthe	$535
1092 km or 679 mi	Kroonstad	$768
1113 km or 692 mi	Klerksdorp	$722
1135 km or 705 mi	Mmabatho	$780
1155 km or 718 mi	Potchefstroom	$695
1187 km or 737 mi	Rehoboth	$792
1194 km or 742 mi	Lobatse	$665
1198 km or 745 mi	Kanye	$664
1208 km or 751 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$773
1217 km or 756 mi	Vereeniging	$672
1231 km or 765 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$640
1244 km or 773 mi	Soweto	$923
1250 km or 777 mi	Rustenburg	$889
1260 km or 783 mi	Gaborone	$691
1261 km or 783 mi	Molepolole	$628
1261 km or 784 mi	Johannesburg	$993
1267 km or 788 mi	Randburg	$837
1269 km or 789 mi	Windhoek	$862
1270 km or 789 mi	Sandton	$953
1271 km or 790 mi	Durban	$809
1277 km or 794 mi	Gobabis	$813
1279 km or 795 mi	Walvis Bay	$740

Cities near Houston

Distance	City	Cost of living
22 km or 14 mi	Pasadena	$2182
25 km or 15 mi	Pearland	$2108
25 km or 16 mi	Missouri	$2087
27 km or 17 mi	Deer Park	$2196
29 km or 18 mi	Sugar Land	$2028
32 km or 20 mi	Spring	$2093
33 km or 21 mi	Friendswood	$2097
35 km or 22 mi	La Porte	$2232
40 km or 25 mi	Baytown	$2311
41 km or 25 mi	League	$2065
42 km or 26 mi	Alvin	$2056
47 km or 29 mi	Rosenberg	$2107
48 km or 30 mi	The Woodlands	$2698
59 km or 37 mi	Texas City	$2014
62 km or 38 mi	Conroe	$1799
76 km or 47 mi	Galveston	$1855
81 km or 50 mi	Lake Jackson	$2089
108 km or 67 mi	Huntsville	$2089
126 km or 78 mi	Beaumont	$1673
129 km or 80 mi	College Station	$1853
138 km or 86 mi	Bryan	$1944
140 km or 87 mi	Port Arthur	$1907
186 km or 115 mi	Lufkin	$1878
188 km or 117 mi	Victoria	$2215
203 km or 126 mi	Sulphur	$2037
215 km or 134 mi	Lake Charles	$1986
217 km or 135 mi	Nacogdoches	$1510
229 km or 142 mi	Pflugerville	$2218
234 km or 145 mi	Austin	$2455
236 km or 146 mi	Round Rock	$2163
239 km or 149 mi	Temple	$2134
242 km or 150 mi	Kyle	$2223
242 km or 150 mi	Georgetown	$2192
247 km or 153 mi	San Marcos	$2224
249 km or 155 mi	Cedar Park	$2244
250 km or 156 mi	Seguin	$2182
254 km or 158 mi	Leander	$2260
261 km or 162 mi	Waco	$2230
262 km or 163 mi	Harker Heights	$2044
264 km or 164 mi	New Braunfels	$2182